Commencement used to mean something simple: pride.
A milestone. A celebration. A moment for families to sit in the stands and watch their kids step into the next chapter of life.
Not a moment where Jewish students and their families sit there horrified while a speaker uses the stage to spread rhetoric that makes Jews and allies feel even less safe on campus.
But here we are.
In May 2026 at the University of Michigan, a professor known for anti-Israel rhetoric was handed a commencement microphone and used that platform to amplify more division and hostility.
And this isn’t an isolated incident.
Again and again, universities across the country have allowed antisemitism to hide behind the language of “activism” and “free speech,” while Jewish students are left feeling intimidated, targeted, and abandoned by the very institutions that are supposed to protect them.
Parents spend years saving for tuition, supporting their children, and believing campuses are places where students can learn and grow safely. Instead, many Jewish families are watching universities tolerate environments where hostility toward Jews has become normalized.
So here’s the question:
What are we going to do about it?
Will we keep sending checks to universities that tolerate antisemitism?
Will we stay angry but silent?
Will we keep feeling helpless?
Or will we fund something that pushes back loudly and publicly?
That’s exactly why JewBelong puts billboards in high-visibility locations near college campuses across America. Because silence has never protected Jews.
Billboards cannot solve antisemitism overnight. But they do something important: they make sure Jewish students know they are not alone. They force conversations into the public square. They remind allies to speak up. And they show universities that people are paying attention.
Imagine pointing to one of those billboards with your child and saying:
“We are going to stand loud and proud as Jews. We have just as much right to be on campuses and in this country as anyone else. I helped make that billboard happen because I want you to know that staying silent is not an option.”
That matters.
Right now, JewBelong is continuing to expand billboard campaigns near campuses and communities across the country.
If you would like to support this work, please donate generously below.
And if you would like to discuss sponsoring a campaign at a specific university, reach out to us here.
